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October 2010

The Dream Is Over: Music Labels Have Killed Their Digital Future

The hope of pioneering the music industry's most profound transformation, that inspired entrepreneurs over 10 years ago, has finally been snuffed out by the very people who would have profited the most—the music industry.

The table is now set. There will be no new players of significance to enter the business. Investors don't want to entertain the remotest possibility of funding any start-up that deals with music, no matter how clever and innovative. As one major media venture firm told me a few months ago, they're tired of writing cheques for big advances to record labels. Not to mention the huge legal fees that start-ups have to spend in order to get licensed, a process that takes at least a year. What's most ironic is that the record labels have now put themselves in the position of having to depend on the bulk of their digital sales from companies that actually couldn't care less about selling music: Apple, Amazon, and now Google. These behemoths have huge revenues, 99.9% of which are not related to digital music sales.

Utilities Resist Changes to Pole Attachment Rules

In a proceeding that the Federal Communications, a coalition of utility companies is resisting a proposal for a host of new pole attachment requirements for electric utilities that are intended to promote the deployment of broadband services across the country.

Unfortunately, the National Broadband Plan presented the FCC with a "wish list" for attachers as if it were noncontroversial and beyond debate, all the while ignoring the significant concerns raised by the electric utility industry. As is apparent from the comments filed in this proceeding, these proposals would do very little if anything to promote broadband services, and almost all of them would jeopardize the safety and reliability of electric distribution systems. It is troubling that the full FCC would bootstrap these recommendations into new proposed burdens on electric utilities without any consideration of prior input from the electric utility industry. The National Broadband Plan recommendations were so one-sided that they cannot reliably form the basis for any proposals by the FCC, let alone ones that potentially impact the safe and efficient operation of electric utility distribution systems across the country.

Innovation Communities in Health Technology

As the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) carries out its mission toward a goal of nationwide achievement of meaningful use, I am mindful that we are also working toward a greater vision of improved individual and population health outcomes - a vision of a high performance learning health care system that leverages health information and technology, while protecting privacy and confidentiality, and encourages an infrastructure for robust care delivery and technology innovation.

Over the coming weeks, a number of events are being held in support of health care and technology innovation. These events are just a glimpse of the excitement and passion I am seeing take place across country, as multiple, disparate and powerful forces in the environment converge in support of improving and transforming health care.

Telemedicine aids early diagnosis: study

A new telemedicine study has found that review of electronically transmitted heart images by remote specialists allowed for earlier diagnosis and treatment of pediatric heart problems.

Nearly 72% of the tests were ordered as a result of heart murmurs detected by local physicians, and roughly 74% of the echocardiograms were determined by the specialists to be normal. Fewer than 2% of the cases needed to be referred to Children's Mercy for treatment, the study found. "This study helps illustrate how telemedicine can save families significant worry, time and expense," said Seiji Ito, co-author of the study and a resident at Children's Mercy. During the 11-year study period, methods for transmitting the echocardiograms evolved from videotaped images sent via an integrated services digital network to digital studies sent over the Internet.

Computerizing care can have unexpected consequences

The Obama administration is banking on the idea that electronic medical records will reduce errors and costs. But much refining will be needed, at least with computerized drug orders, a University of Pennsylvania study shows.

Penn researchers compared two groups of doctors on their use of two drugs with potentially dangerous interactions: the blood thinner warfarin and an antibiotic, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. To test if a hard-to-override alert would reduce the drugs' use together, the researchers had the system stop those orders for half the users while leaving the old system in place for the others. The computerized "stops" had the desired effect; fewer prescriptions of both drugs together were made by the first group. But the study was stopped early because of four cases in which patients had long delays in getting the needed drugs. Brian L. Strom, who led the study, said that one solution could be to make it easier to override computer stops in patients with HIV and other conditions for which timely administration of the two meds are critical.

ISPs begin fighting IP lookup requests in wake of data leak

UK Internet providers have now banded together to challenge anti-P2P law firms who try to turn thousands of IP addresses into customer names—and a London court will hear their objections to the entire process.

The ISPs were burned last month when a massive e-mail leak from the top anti-P2P firm in the UK, ACS Law, exposed their own spreadsheets of customer names matched to the pornographic films they allegedly downloaded. The revelation of this embarrassing (and unproven) behavior was compounded by the fact that several of the ISPs were taking no security precautions, instead e-mailing their Excel spreadsheets unencrypted and without passwords.

New America Foundation
Monday, October 18, 2010
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
http://www.newamerica.net/events/2010/technology_and_teaching

Electronic content and digital interactivity are everywhere - except in most public school classrooms. How can schools and teachers take advantage of technology to help students excel? What do teachers really need?

Please join the Early Education Initiative and the Open Technology Initiative for a showcase of ideas from four thought leaders who are crafting new tools for teachers, developing a vision for useful teacher training, and promoting smarter approaches to more open and accessible content in the digital arena. We'll conclude with an exploration of what policies at the local, state and federal level are needed to ease the way.

Panelists
Tim Vollmer
Open Policy Fellow
Creative Commons

Lynne Munson
President and Executive Director
Common Core

Michael Levine
Executive Director
Joan Ganz Cooney Center

Mark Osborne
Principal, Albany Senior High School in New Zealand
(participating via Skype)

Moderators
Lisa Guernsey
Director, Early Education Initiative
New America Foundation

Sascha Meinrath
Director, Open Technology Initiative
New America Foundation

For questions, contact Stephanie Gunter at (202) 596-3367 or gunter@newamerica.net

For media inquiries, contact Kate Brown at (202) 596-3365 or brown@newamerica.net


October 5, 2010 (Why US Broadband Is So Awful)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2010

Three events today including Public Media in a Digital Age http://www.benton.org/calendar/2010-10-05

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Why Broadband Service in the US Is So Awful
   ASR Analytics Will provide BTOP Evaluation
   The time for compromise has passed on network neutrality
   Guide arms Tea Party members with anti-network neutrality talking points
   Telecom firms' donations to minority groups criticized as FCC considers network neutrality rules
   Promoting Broadband Policies to Improve our Nation
   E-Rate Revisions Seen as Good First Step
   More Comments on Pole Attachments
   Verizon: Fiber is Different . . . and Better

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
   FCC Asks for More Information From NBC in Comcast Deal in Second Request
   Coalition Urges Obama Not To Rush Review of Comcast-NBC Universal Merger
   Televisa to Take Stake in Univision
   Tribune Co. Gets New Deadline for Exiting Chapter 11

CONTENT
   Google TV Tunes To Turner, HBO, CNBC, Netflix And Others
   New kids' TV channel raises product-placement concerns
   2 E-Books Cost More Than Amazon Hardcovers

POLICYMAKERS
   New Leadership for President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee

MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
   Senate must pass Disclose Act
   Midterm campaigns, brought to you by . . . ?
   Group seeks companies' pledge not to use corporate money for campaigns
   Campaign 2010
   News Corp. Donates $1 Million to U.S. Chamber of Commerce

PRIVACY
   Supreme Court Refuses Invasion Of Privacy Claim Against Google's Street View
   An Illegal Search, by GPS

CYBERSECURITY
   An undeclared war in cyberspace

STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:

   Government to Reveal New UK Universal Broadband Policy Before Christmas
   Dutch law wants more transparency around rates for consumers
   France and Spain Ordered to Stop Using Telecoms Taxes to Subsidize TV Services
   TV overtakes Internet on advertising in UK
   Emerging Telecoms in $6.5 Billion Deal

Recent Comments on:
On Defining the Third Way
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

US BROADBAND IS AWFUL
[SOURCE: Scientific America, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] The average US household has to pay an exorbitant amount of money for an Internet connection that the rest of the industrial world would find mediocre. The consequences are far worse than having to wait a few extra seconds for a movie to load. Because broadband connections are the railroads of the 21st century -- essential infrastructure required to transmit products (these days, in the form of information) from seller to buyer -- our creaky Internet makes it harder for U.S. entrepreneurs to compete in global markets. Phone companies have to compete for your business. Even though there may be just one telephone jack in your home, you can purchase service from any one of a number of different long-distance providers. Not so for broadband Internet. Here consumers generally have just two choices: the cable company, which sends data through the same lines used to deliver television signals, and the phone company, which uses older telephone lines and hence can only offer slower service. Yet, puzzlingly, the Federal Communications Commission wants to take only a half-step. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has said that although he regards the Internet as a telecommunications service, he does not want to bring in third-party competition. It is frustrating to see Chairman Genachowski acknowledge that the U.S. has fallen behind so many other countries in its communications infrastructure and then rule out the most effective way to reverse the decline. We call on the FCC to take this important step and free the Internet.
benton.org/node/43062 | Scientific America
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BTOP EVALUATION
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
ASR Analytics, a Potomac-based data modeling and decision support services company, has won a nearly $5 million contract to evaluate the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. The four-year deal will provide all services necessary to develop a sampling method, assessment criteria and method of analysis to conduct a thorough assessment of the impact that the BTOP grant awards are having on broadband availability and adoption and in achieving economic and social benefits in areas serviced by the grantees. This requirement is being funded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.
benton.org/node/43081 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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NET NEUTRALITY COMPROMISE
[SOURCE: Seattle Times, AUTHOR: Ryan Blethen]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission needs to realize what it is: a regulatory agency. Once it grasps that simple concept it should do what regulatory agencies do: regulate. The FCC has played it safe since Julius Genachowski was installed as chairman by President Barack Obama. Chairman Genachowski has had enough time on the job to know when to get aggressive. That time is now. Congress has given Genachowski an entree to stop the FCC's dithering on network neutrality. The time for compromise has passed. Chairman Genachowski needs to do something. If not, he can expect to be lumped in with the past two chairman — Kevin Martin and Michael Powell — as regulators more concerned about catering to those they regulate than the American public.
benton.org/node/43076 | Seattle Times
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TEA PARTY MANUAL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
The Heartland Institute released "The Patriots Toolbox" on Oct 4. The telecommunications chapter includes a list of 10 major points for Tea Party activists who want to discuss communications policy. "Oppose network neutrality regulations," the guide instructs. "Attempts to legislate network neutrality risk a repeat of the disaster that was caused by the Telecom Act of 1996." The guide condones four network neutrality principles that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted in 2005, but says policymaking should end there. "Should the FCC or state regulators do more to enforce network neutrality?" it says. "Most surely not." The guide also tells activists to support the repeal of discriminatory taxes and fees and argue for less government involvement in broadband deployment. It also says telecom companies should have greater leeway to set prices. The guide has low regard for the FCC as a consumer protection agency and encourages making a single entity responsible for consumer protection. "The agency has not set measurable enforcement goals, developed a well-defined enforcement strategy, or established performance measures linked to the enforcement goals," it says, commending what it sees as superior efforts at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
benton.org/node/43059 | Hill, The
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DONATIONS TO MINORITY GROUPS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
Some leading minority advocacy groups long have supported AT&T Inc., Comcast Corp. and other major telecommunications firms in the industry's efforts to win approvals for mergers, get rid of old regulations and avoid new government rules. And the telecom firms, in turn, have poured millions of dollars of donations and in-kind services, including volunteer help from the carriers' executive suites, into charitable groups in the communities they serve. Consumer and public advocates used to whisper about the possibility of conflicts of interest, but now they are openly critical as the battle heats up over proposed federal regulations over net neutrality, the principle that Internet service providers should not restrict content, programs and other uses on their networks. Key minority groups are backing the carriers' efforts to thwart the net neutrality proposals, which would, for instance, prohibit carriers from charging more to give some residential and corporate customers priority in delivering online content. "When you give national civil rights groups millions of private dollars, there's no firewall strong enough to keep that money out of their policy," said Malkia Cyril, executive director of the Center for Media Justice. Cyril and other consumer and public advocates have been buoyed by comments from Federal Communications Commission member Mignon L. Clyburn, a prominent African American and daughter of Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-SC). She said in a speech in January that she was surprised that most statements and filings by "some of the leading groups representing people of color have been silent on this make-or-break issue" of net neutrality.
benton.org/node/43090 | Los Angeles Times
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COMMENTS ON POLE ATTACHMENTS
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
Sometimes, even big telephone and cable companies can love the Federal Communications Commission.
In a proceeding on pole attachments, AT&T points out to the FCC that, with the exception of the electric company commenters, most of the commenters in this proceeding have agreed with the FCC's fundamental premise that rates for pole attachments should be as low and as close to uniform as possible. In fact, these commenters whole-heartedly agree with the FCC's observation that different rates based on the classification of the attacher "distorts attachers' deployment decisions," especially "with regard to integrated, voice, video, and data networks." And they embrace the many other good public policy reasons for adopting a low, uniform broadband pole-attachment rate for all attachers. In spite of the consensus (or maybe because of it), these same commenters, however, resist applying this same reasoning to pole attachments by ILECs. Those who resist applying this reasoning to ILECs attempt to justify their obvious intellectual dishonesty by clinging to the assertion that this result is driven by the terms of § 224. They are mistaken. AT&T believes the FCC has the authority to regulate the rates, terms, and conditions of pole attachments both by a cable television system and by a provider of telecommunications service. AT&T believes it was Congress's intent that pole attachments by ILECs be covered by this grant of authority, because ILECs are included within the term "provider of telecommunications service."
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, which represents large cable operators, writes that the FCC's proposal to set a fixed pole attachment rate for broadband services at the higher of the marginal cost proxy or the cable rate under Section 224(d) serves the critical national policies of increasing broadband competition, deployment and adoption and does so in a manner that is true to Section 224(e) and ensures that pole owners are fully compensated for any costs caused by attaching entities.
benton.org/node/43075 | Benton Foundation | NCTA
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CLYBURN BROADBAND SPEECH
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn]
On October 1, Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn addressed the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference. She predicted that, before the end of the year, the FCC will begin a proceeding to address wholesale reform of the Universal Service Fund to support broadband in hard-to-serve areas.
Federal Communications Commission
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GOOD REVIEWS FOR E-RATE ORDER
[SOURCE: Education Week, AUTHOR: Ian Quillen]
It's a good start. That seems to be the general feeling among educational technology advocates about the recent reforms to the federal E-rate program, whether they are applauding a new funding index for inflation, the allowance for "dark fiber" connections, or the funding of pilot wireless-learning programs. While the revisions that were adopted to the $2.25 billion program at the Federal Communications Commission's Sept. 23 meeting generally have been welcomed, experts say there is still work to do before the program -- set up in 1997 to fund discounts for schools and libraries to connect to the Internet—can address fully contemporary technology demands. Educators laud indexing the funding cap for inflation, but they say funding still needs to be expanded far beyond that level. They praise the new option of extending E-rate-funded Internet services to the community after school hours, but question if "school spots" are an effective solution for sparsely populated districts. And while some worry a pilot program to pay for, according to the FCC's written order, a "handful" of wireless education efforts would divert money from campus initiatives, others say it's a baby step on a long path toward truly supporting mobile learning. In short, experts say the FCC's revisions may show that it is in tune with the changing technology needs of schools, but that it also has chosen the simplest solutions to bring about the swiftest change.
benton.org/node/43060 | Education Week | read summary of FCC decision
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP

FCC ASKS FOR MORE INFO ON COMCAST-NBC
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Todd Shields]
The Federal Communications Commission asked Comcast and General Electric's NBC Universal to answer more questions about their advertising and broadcast agreements, raising the potential for the merger to take longer to complete. In a second information request, the FCC wants to know about NBC Universal's top advertising partners, its advertising revenue and cable carriage agreements for NBC and Telemundo broadcast stations. The FCC asked for copies of agreements NBC Universal has to distribute its USA, Oxygen, Chiller and Sleuth through TV-service providers led by Time Warner Cable Inc., DirecTV, Dish Network Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T. Comcast, the largest U.S. cable-television company, was asked about agreements with other TV-service providers to carry its programming such as E! and the Golf Channel. Comcast was asked about agreements to carry channels the cable company owns including E!, regional sports networks, the Golf Channel, Style, Versus and Sprout. The FCC lodged 31 information requests for Comcast, and 10 for NBC Universal. The FCC requested answers from the companies no later than October 18.
benton.org/node/43080 | Bloomberg | Letter to NBC | Letter to Comcast
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NO RUSH ON COMCAST DECISION
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Eliza Krigman]
A coalition of public interest groups and private organizations sent President Obama a letter on Monday pressing the administration not to rush the regulatory review of the proposed $30 billion merger between Comcast and NBC Universal. "We urge your administration to ensure this unprecedented combination receives the scrutiny that it deserves," the letter concluded. The signatories, also known as the Coalition for Competition in Media, attacked Comcast in the note saying the company's lobbying efforts "are a complete affront to the regulatory process and the job asked of your administration to protect consumers and competition." In particular, the coalition took issue with Comcast's recent announcement that Steve Burke, currently chief operating officer at Comcast, will lead the united companies upon completion of the merger. The release wrongly assumed "the merger was a foregone conclusion," the coalition noted.
benton.org/node/43057 | CongressDaily
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TELEVISA BUYING UNIVISION STAKE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jose De Cordoba]
Apparently, Mexican media giant Grupo Televisa SAB will pay $1.2 billion to help recapitalize Univision Communications, Inc. and gain a minority stake in return, ending years of acrimony between the world's two biggest Spanish-language broadcasters. Televisa will pay $130 million for a 5% stake. The rest would be convertible debt equivalent to 30% of Univision shares, with a 15-year maturity. Televisa would also have the right to buy an additional 5% of Univision at market prices in five years time. All told, the Mexican broadcaster would have the rights to buy up to 40% of Los Angeles-based Univision, if all its debentures are converted. US law, however, currently prohibits a foreign broadcaster from owning more than 25% of U.S. broadcasters.
benton.org/node/43093 | Wall Street Journal
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CONTENT

GOOGLE TV
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Google has queued up cable programmers and content partners -- including Turner Broadcasting System, HBO, CNBC, Netflix, Amazon.com and the National Basketball Association -- in the hopes of providing more compelling reasons for consumers to buy products built on its Google TV software. But rather than providing grist for the "cord-cutting" mill, the Google TV content partnerships largely appear supplemental to cable TV services. Indeed, in HBO's case, a pay-TV subscription will be necessary to access the premium programmer's HBO Go service through a Google-based device, while the CNBC and NBA applications are designed to be used while watching live TV. The ambitious Google TV project requires consumers to purchase a separate Internet set-top box or a new TV, promising a way to combine conventional TV with Web content, YouTube clips and other video, games and applications into "a single, seamless entertainment experience." Analysts have expressed skepticism that Google TV will achieve widespread adoption anytime soon, if ever, given a variety of business and technology challenges.
benton.org/node/43058 | Multichannel News
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NEW TV CHANNEL FOR KIDS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Joe Flint, Dawn Chmielewski]
Hub, a channel aimed at kids that launches Sunday, is co-owned by cable giant Discovery Communications Inc. and Hasbro Inc., the nation's No. 2 toy maker. The Hub is already in the crosshairs of media watchdogs who fear the network's programming, with shows based on toy lines G.I. Joe, Transformers, My Little Pony and Pound Puppies, amounts to little more than plugs for Hasbro products. "The notion of a toy company owning a television channel for the sole purpose of promoting their toys is egregious practice," said Susan Linn, director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which has emerged as one of the Hub's harshest critics. Linn acknowledged that she had yet to see any of the network's new shows. Whether the network's ties to Hasbro will lead to greater scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators remains to be seen. The Federal Communications Commission limits the number of commercials aired during shows aimed at children ages 12 and younger. And during shows based on a toy or game, the FCC bars advertisements for that toy or game. Looking to ease an outcry, the Hub plans to carry six minutes of commercials per hour in shows aimed at preschoolers, well below the FCC's limit of 12 minutes on weekdays and 10.5 minutes on weekends.
benton.org/node/43091 | Los Angeles Times
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POLICYMAKERS

NATIONAL SECURITY TELECOMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
[SOURCE: The White House]
President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint James Q. Crowe to be Chairman and Maggie Wilderotter to be Vice Chair of the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.
James Crowe is Chief Executive Officer of Level 3 Communications, an international communications company. Maggie Wilderotter is Chairman and CEO of Frontier Communications, a leading provider of communications services to rural America. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/43078 | White House, The
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MEDIA AND ELECTIONS

PASS DISCLOSE ACT
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] As voters consider the issues and candidates, they're awash in an unprecedented flood of campaign advertising, much of it funded by people who don't identify themselves -- and don't have to. So come January, we'll have a crop of ambitious lawmakers beholden to donors the public has no way to identify. How can they be held accountable? We hope that once the election frenzy subsides, a few Republican senators will listen to their consciences. Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, John McCain, Richard Lugar and Thad Cochran all previously have voted for much more restrictive campaign finance laws. The Disclose Act will be just a start at solving campaign finance problems. For example, Congress and the IRS need to examine whether independent groups are abusing their nonprofit status. But the act will help solve one very real problem, and if the Senate doesn't pass it, we'll have even more evidence that lawmakers are out for themselves and their donors -- not the people.
benton.org/node/43086 | San Jose Mercury News
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NEWS CORP DONATES TO US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jim Rutenberg]
The News Corporation, whose holdings include The Wall Street Journal and the Fox News Channel, has donated $1 million to the United States Chamber of Commerce, the business advocacy group that is among the heaviest anti-Democratic advertisers in this year's elections. The donation is News Corp.'s second known contribution to a group that is advertising heavily to support Republicans this year. In August, News Corp. confirmed that it had donated $1 million to the Republican Governors Association. The second donation is sure to add to the political heat that surrounds News Corp. and its potent corporate offspring, the Fox News Channel, which has come under increasing fire from Democrats who have questioned its political motives — accusations that have received especially full-throated answers from the network's stable of opinionated hosts this election season. The Chamber has vowed to spend around $75 million on this year's elections, and the effort has overwhelmingly focused on defeating Democrats, though the Chamber has made exceptions in some races. News Corporation has a political action committee that has donated to both parties this year, as have those of Comcast (which is in the process of acquiring a 51 percent stake in the company that holds NBC News and MSNBC). Time Warner (whose holdings include CNN and Time magazine). and CBS Corp (parent of CBS News). But nothing on record is on the order of the $2 million the News Corporation is now known to have given to the Republican Governor's Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
benton.org/node/43077 | New York Times
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PRIVACY

STREET VIEW COURT DECISION
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
The US Supreme Court gave Google some good news in a lawsuit stemming from its Street View feature, which offers detailed photographs of public streets -- including the outside facades of people's houses. The Supreme Court turned down a request to take up the appeal of married couple Aaron and Christine Boring, who unsuccessfully sued Google for allegedly violating their privacy by displaying a photo of their home near Pittsburgh (PA). The decision means that a ruling by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, dismissing the invasion of privacy claim, will be the last word on that count. The appellate court wrote in January that "no person of ordinary sensibilities would be shamed, humiliated, or have suffered mentally as a result of a vehicle entering into his or her ungated driveway and photographing the view from there." The Supreme Court decision turning down the Borings' appeal shouldn't be surprising, given that U.S. courts tend to back the right to publish information -- even when the subjects of articles aren't happy about the information becoming known.
benton.org/node/43083 | MediaPost
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AN ILLEGAL SEARCH
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] In a landmark 1967 case, the Supreme Court ruled that evidence from a wiretap on a phone booth was obtained unconstitutionally. Despite the public nature of a phone booth, the tap violated the defendant's privacy under the Fourth Amendment. "Wherever a man may be," the court explained, "he is entitled to know that he will remain free from unreasonable searches and seizures." Fast forward to today, when courts are wrestling with the question of whether new technology requires them to think differently about what is a reasonable expectation of privacy. In August, three judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (two conservatives, one liberal) ruled unanimously -- and correctly -- that police violated the Constitution when they hid a GPS device on a person's car and tracked his every move without a valid warrant. Digital technology raises questions about differences between cyberspace and the physical world, which most search-and-seizure laws deal with. In showing why a powerful advance in technology calls for significantly greater protection of privacy, the three-judge panel provided an important example of how the law can respond to new circumstances.
benton.org/node/43095 | New York Times
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CYBERSECURITY

WAR IN CYBERSPACE
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Gideon Rachman]
[Commentary] For advanced industrial nations, cyber-warfare is simultaneously a huge opportunity and a huge threat. Targeted cyber-attacks, such as those aimed at Iran, offer the chance to disrupt an enemy's industrial and military capacities. But western officials are also having nightmares about the vulnerabilities of their own societies. Senior western officials claim they've had success disrupting the Iranian nuclear program -- could it have been a state-sponsored cyberattack? The Iranian government complains that it has been hit by "electronic warfare" in the form of the Stuxnet virus that has infected more than 30,000 computers in their country. But computer experts seem pretty sure that something as complex as Stuxnet could only have been designed by a state. Early speculation centered around Israel. But, in truth, there are several intelligence agencies that have the capacity and motive to make life difficult for Iran's nuclear scientists. This year, the US set up a Cyber Command to defend its networks and to plan attacks. For the moment, the western powers probably do still have the upper hand in cyberspace. But one day, the tables may turn. The first we may know of it is when our cashpoints refuse to co-operate, our traffic lights go on the blink and our computers shut down.
benton.org/node/43089 | Financial Times
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An Illegal Search, by GPS

[Commentary] In a landmark 1967 case, the Supreme Court ruled that evidence from a wiretap on a phone booth was obtained unconstitutionally. Despite the public nature of a phone booth, the tap violated the defendant's privacy under the Fourth Amendment. "Wherever a man may be," the court explained, "he is entitled to know that he will remain free from unreasonable searches and seizures." Fast forward to today, when courts are wrestling with the question of whether new technology requires them to think differently about what is a reasonable expectation of privacy. In August, three judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (two conservatives, one liberal) ruled unanimously -- and correctly -- that police violated the Constitution when they hid a GPS device on a person's car and tracked his every move without a valid warrant. Digital technology raises questions about differences between cyberspace and the physical world, which most search-and-seizure laws deal with. In showing why a powerful advance in technology calls for significantly greater protection of privacy, the three-judge panel provided an important example of how the law can respond to new circumstances.

2 E-Books Cost More Than Amazon Hardcovers

Readers of e-books may not be able to turn paper pages, lend their copies to friends or file them away on living room bookshelves. But they do have the comfort of knowing that they paid less for them than for hardcovers. Unless they bought "Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett, which was published by Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Group USA, last week.

On Amazon.com, the price for the e-book was $19.99; the hardcover edition was $19.39. Or "Don't Blink," by James Patterson and Howard Roughan, whose publisher, Little, Brown & Company, charged $14.99 for the e-book. Amazon priced the hardcover at $14. Customers, unaccustomed to seeing a digital edition more expensive than the hardcover, howled at the price discrepancy, and promptly voiced their outrage with negative comments and one-star reviews on Amazon. "Really, James Patterson?" wrote one reader from Elgin, Ill. "Why would it possibly cost more for a digital download than printed and bound ink on paper?" Other customers directed their anger at the publishers. "They aren't penguins," a Web commenter from Paradise, Calif., wrote about Mr. Follett's book. "They are pigs." Several major publishers said those two books were the first they knew of that cost more as e-books than in hardcover on Amazon.

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